Angel's Lair
by LooneyZampy
Summary: Down, down in hell, Sayu is held prisoner. Or so it seems to her before she sees what seems to be an angel. On the other side, the fact that somebody in this world may think of him as of an angel wakes up unexpected thoughts, feelings and memories in the mind of Mello.
1. 1: A Prisoner of Heaven and Hell

**(A/N): Here comes my insight in what could be one of the most... Interesting... Couples in the Death Note fandom. ****Mello and Sayu are both wonderful characters and writing about them is awesome.**

**So here it is, the first chapter of the story I would like to happen, or to have happened between them... I hope you like it :)**

* * *

_Chapter 1 : A Prisoner of Heaven and Hell_

At first, she was terrorized. Brought to this unknown place, surrounded by people who could only mean her harm, weak and chained. Alone to face the wrath of those who feared no system and no law. Alone face to the most dangerous people in the world.

That day started like any other day. She got ready, she went to school, she got the best marks in her class for the last test she had, she talked with her friends... And then everything changed. In a split-second, her whole life took a new turn. She was coming back home, texting a girl from her class, when two large hands grabbed her from behind. Another pair of hands approached her, grabbed her head and injected something in the vein in her neck. Then everything went dark.

* * *

When she woke up, she was already far from her home. Her sight was still blurry and she could barely make up voices talking around her. She was surrounded by foggy shapes and echoes. Even her body seemed weak and if it wasn't for the ropes holding her attached to the chair, she would fall. At least attached like this, she wasn't at the same level as the feet of the foggy creatures. Her mouth was duct-taped, but she wasn't blindfolded. Nonetheless, she still couldn't really see anything because the world around her was plunged into a mist where colors and shadows fought for supremacy. The noise surrounding her was unbearable, but after a while, she was able to make out some words. At one moment, she also managed to make out the sound of a picture being taken.

The sound of the camera woke up her senses some more and she managed to distinguish the words "we" and "have" and "your" and "daughter". "We have your daughter". "We have your daughter!" And "Yagami"... She also heard "Yagami"! They were talking to her father! She raised her head and tried to scream, but being duct-taped, she barely made any sound. She could now see some silhouettes standing out in the mist, but nothing more. What drug did they inject into her body to take such a long time to wear off? And even the shapes and silhouettes in the mist didn't stay where they were moments ago. Right now, she couldn't even make up shapes anymore because the room started turning around her again. She lowered her head. This was all painful... But not as painful as what would come, she thought in panic as she felt her chair being dragged away. She wanted to scream once again, but she was weak... So weak... And so, so tired...

"Take her to the cellar for today, after that we'll see." a voice said. "But keep an eye on her! We don't want her to die like the last one!"

The last one died? The last one... Died?! Now she was panicking even more! The fear made her heart race and she quickly inhaled and exhaled a couple of times through the nose. The duct-tape hindered her breathing and she thought, it was only a matter of seconds before she chokes. When she didn't die after more than three entire seconds that in her state appeared as long as hours, she found questions racing in her brain along with the multicoloured lines and sparkles of light. Who were these people? What did they want from her? What were they going to do to her? What has she ever done to anyone to deserve this? And that voice... She could clearly hear the words pronounced, but the voices were still distorted in her head... This one sounded almost inhuman. And one day, she thought, when she will be able to see and hear normally again, she will never be able to guess to which one of her captors this voice belonged...

* * *

Heaven and hell teamed up in her head. The images she saw were one moment reassuring and beautiful, but the next one they were terrifying and expressing her worst fears. One moment she was running on the green meadows, where no fear or pain existed, the other one she was dragged to the depths of hell by demonic creatures who were scratching and biting at her flesh while she was still alive, still holding to that one branch that was miraculously hanging in the nothingness, hoping that it would save her from the eternal damnation.

What the HELL was in that drug they gave her?

Sayu felt as if she was already there for hours, the images from her nightmares mixing with the more reassuring dreams she imposed herself with the remaining of her strength and optimism, mixing once again with the images and the sounds from the real world, or at least with what she perceived from the real world. At moments, the world seemed to start to make sense around her, but at other moments, she was starting to lose herself again, drifting away, once again, to a world where hell and heaven make one and where dreams and nightmares coexist. But as in dreams, what seems to be lasting hours actually lasts only for seconds, and from the moment a picture was taken of her and sent to her father to now, only a couple of minutes have elapsed. She was now in the cellar, still attached to the chair.

* * *

A sound of boots distinguished itself in the mist. She clearly heard the soles ring on the floor, coming closer and closer to her. She also heard voices, but the words weren't clear and all the sounds seemed to mingle in a sort of a wave-like sound. She was surrounded by a wild and blurred ocean of noises. Only the sound of the boots on the floor remained clear.

She was now in heaven.

Or at least, in the more heaven-like phase of the drug effect. The ocean of noises surrounding her was no more composed of terrifying sounds that seemed to come from the mouth of hell, but the voices seemed to have melted in a more harmonious melody. Yes, melody... The sound of boots was the metronome... And it became stretched in time... The images in front of her paled away and what she saw next was a mosaic of colors. Colors dancing in front of her, reminding her of the light that comes through stained glass in the churches... And the smell... That was what confirmed that she was now in heaven. The oppressive smell of the cellar was slowly replaced by the sweet sweet perfume of Heaven, coming closer and closer... From the stories she's been told, Hell would smell of fire and burning flesh. And what she smelled now was the beautiful perfume of chocolate. Heaven would definitely smell of chocolate.

We shall not forget that the drugged state in which Sayu was plunged now is comparable to the state between sleep and wakefulness. That particular state when dreams intermingle with real life and slow down the time. Hence, what may seem as lasting over a long period took only a couple of minutes in real time. Dreams have that particular ability to distort time, to twist it and elongate it just before our mind, to confuse us and make us wonder how long have we been in the state of trance and how has it affected the real world that we come from.

The heaven and hell phases through which Sayu went could have seemed to last for hours or at least minutes, but in reality, they were just seconds. Moments of time. Even though, in her case, who would count those phases in matters of hours and minutes? They would be counted in matter of "periods of time", because it's the only thing that would make sense anymore. Every phase that came and went brought different visions and emotions. And at every switch, every change, Sayu would feel a bit nauseous, but the feeling of sickness in her stomach would quickly be ignored in favor of the effect that the drug had on the rest of her senses. Still, this phase in which she was now was the best one. This time, she didn't want to puke. This time, nothing hurt. The melodies of the voices were almost lulling her and only the slow (or at least what she perceived as slow) and steady sound of the boot soles kept her awake. The beautiful ring of the boot soles, coming closer and closer to her, ringing like a bell, and bringing more and more heaven to her with every step. Heaven had a scent of chocolate.

* * *

Mello was now close to his hostage. She was drowsy and it was clear that she was still under the effect of drugs by the way she was swaying in her chair and by the vacant look in her eyes.

"Just how much did you give her?" Mello asked his helpers.

"Enough for the road" Roy chuckled "And... Added up a bit more as we were arriving here. Just to be sure."

Mello took the head of the hostage in his hands and made her face him. Her look was completely vacant. He bended over a bit and squinted his eyes as he came closer to the level of hers. The girl's eyes were blurred and foggy, but yet, some almost inhuman reflection was in them. A moment later, her pupil widened so much that it almost covered the iris. The drugs were still having effect on her. Still holding her head, he absentmindedly bit on the corner of his chocolate. Before he even managed to draw said piece of chocolate in his mouth with his tongue, he noticed a change in the girl's eyes: the pupils, still wide, seemed to have acquired some depth. They were no longer plain and glassy and no longer dead. Then, she smiled.

* * *

**The first chapters are usually the hardest ones to write, even though, ironically, in my stories they often end up being the shortest ones. Still, writing this chapter was great fun to me, since I really love describing the dream visions and hallucinations. So I'm quite happy with the way it came out and once again, I really hope you liked reading my fanfic so far :)**

**Don't forget to drop me a review, reviews are great fuel for creativity and motivation and... Well... It helps me get better too :)**

**Love you all and stay tuned for the next chapter ^^**


	2. 2: Of Monsters and Angels

**A/N: Here comes the second chapter ^^**

**Now, I changed the title because the last one seemed a little bit too common and didn't seem very well adapted to the story... I hope that this one sounds better x)**

**Also, yesterday night, around three in the morning, I was suddenly struck by inspiration for this chapter (I have the basic outline of the story done, but the outline for this chapter looked more like a headless and ribless skeleton than like anything else x)). Therefore, I stayed awake till seven in the morning, writing this chapter.**

**I sincerely hope that my late-night inspiration managed to create a nice chapter and that you're gonna like it :)**

**Well... Till the next time... I offer you the second chapter of this fanfic.**

* * *

_Chapter 2 : Of Monsters and Angels  
_  
The girl was smiling. Then, she started chuckling. Mello still held her head. Was she laughing at him? No... She wouldn't dare. He released his hold on her. She let her head hang, but was still chuckling. Or did she start to cry? It was pretty unclear... She was shaking. The effect of the drugs was still too strong on her and Mello was growing impatient. He bit on his bar of chocolate, looking around.

"Too much" he said without really looking at anyone. "You gave her too much."

"Well... We did what should have been done..." muttered Skyer, but Mello didn't seem amused.

"Yes, and she's still under the effect. Tell me, how do you want me to do anything with her while she's like this?"

"Oh, you meant to..." giggled Roy with, but Mello's glare stopped him.

"She's Chief Yagami's daughter and she may know the Kira. She may even be... _related_ to Kira." Mello's tone of voice dropped by the end of the sentence, almost whispering the last part.

"Well... We just have to wait until the effects wear off. And then... You can do whatever you want." stated Roy almost apologetically.

Mello bit off another piece of his chocolate eyeing his hostage questioningly. His gaze occasionally wandered around, pausing now on Roy, now on Skyer, now back on the still shaking hostage. There was no reason to feel nervous, he repeated to himself. Up till now, everything was going according to plan. Yagami shall come looking for his daughter in a couple of days and they would receive the Death Note. Yes. Everything was going just fine. Just fine... But there was more to this. He felt that they - that he - could get even more out of this situation... But what? Certainly, he will be content with what they'll already get, but... There is a probability that there may be something more... Could this girl know things that they don't? Things that they could need? Things that could make him take the upper hand, the step above the one on which currently stands Near? Maybe... Maybe if he...

He bit off another piece of his chocolate and realized that he almost finished the entire bar. He should go and get some more if he wants his brain to continue functioning normally. He looked back at the hostage. She wasn't shaking anymore and head was still hanging. She probably fell asleep.

"Um..." started Skyer "We can keep an eye on her 'till she's aware again. It won't take long... We can give her a few slaps if she doesn't come to her senses soon enough..."

"I'll go up and get some more chocolate. Call me when she wakes up."

* * *

Sayu was not asleep. Sayu was in heaven. Up till now at least... Sayu saw an angel. Sayu smiled at the angel's face. She was dead, killed by all the fear, the unbearable fear that consumed her in the moments when she could feel no heaven anymore, the fear that grabbed her limbs and dragged her to infinity, and infinity was filled with pain and suffering. But she saw an angel! An angel who smelled of chocolate and who would take her to heaven when the time comes. It was a nice thought... And then she thought about her parents. They would learn how she had died and they would be devastated… Despite the happiness that she was feeling up here in heaven, the thought of leaving the one's she loves behind made her feel guilty and chuckle nervously. And she couldn't stop it. She chuckled, she cried, and then she was cold.

Cold...

She was shivering with cold. Cold that hurt her both physically and mentally, cold that brought her back to reality. The scent of heaven weakened and the smell of chocolate was no longer consuming the air, being reduced just to one tiny portion of various - mostly damp and unpleasant - smells composing the odor of the place where she was. However, her shivers did not get her back to the nightmarish visions that she expected to experience after the heavenly ones, like the time before. They brought her someplace worse. Someplace _real_. She was finally able to see. She could now clearly see her knees, and the soil, and a pair of boots. The boots went away, taking with them the last remnants of the perfume of chocolate, leaving a void in the air. A void, filled with nothingness. It was as if the last ray of sun decided to leave this world. It was only then that Sayu realized that she had stopped shaking.

For a couple of minutes, she felt nothing. Then, slowly but persistently, as a vile herb that grew inside her body, _fear_. It had started in the place that always takes the beating of every negative emotion, in her stomach. Then it spread through her chest, filling her lungs, stealing the place needed for breath. It climbed up her throat, threatening to come out of her mouth and out of her nose, threatening to make her vomit the vile feeling of dread. But she didn't. She swallowed all her fear, all her pain. However, she could not hold back her tears. Her eyes were not powerful enough to withhold the bitter pain and the inhuman fear that was consuming her.

Unfortunately, her tears did not stay unnoticed. Somebody grabbed the back of her head again and made her look up.

In front of her were standing two large men. Two monstrous figures. She recognized the two men who kidnapped her. Everything made sense now. Everything, but the reason _why_. They kidnapped her, they drugged her and they brought her here. She never saw heaven and she never saw hell. What she saw earlier that day were only drug-induced hallucinations. In her hallucinations, they would look like monsters, but now that she could clearly see, she knew that they were something worse: they were _people_. And they were huge. They could crush her with one strike; they could make her head fall of her shoulders with one well-placed blow. They could tear her down to pieces with their bare hands. And they could do much more. Much worse.

The panic got the better of her and Sayu started screaming. One of them slapped her. So she screamed more. She started imagining the worse, she thought about how they were going to beat her, to torture her, to rape her, to kill her, about how they were monsters in human form and about how she was never this terrified in her entire life. She was screaming on the top of her lungs, she was screaming so much that she forgot to count the slaps that she received. She felt them, but not individually. She felt every slap like just another wave in the ocean of pain that was never going to end. They would torture her, and she would die, and she would never even realize what she did to deserve that. She screamed and cried so much that she was not able to distinguish the words that the men were shouting at her. If she was going to die, let her just die then and there, so she would not have to suffer through worse. It was only when a distinctive scent of chocolate managed to get through all the pain and reach her nostrils that she calmed down. She felt a final slap delivered by one of the two men, (then saw said men being hit on the head by the other one), but the pain was bearable since what to her was a ray of light in darkness entered the room again.

She raised her head and turned it in the direction from which the sweet scent of chocolate was coming. Her eyes widened. Was she hallucinating again? The perfume seemed to emanate from the figure on the other side of the room. The angel! The angel she saw in her hallucinations! He was walking towards her. He was wearing dark clothes, but they seemed to be shining with an otherworldly glow, and his hair looked as if it was made of pure gold. Maybe it was the lights, she thought. Or maybe she was still under the effects of drugs... Or maybe, just maybe, he was a real angel. After all, it was he who emitted that scent of chocolate that would make even hell smell like heaven.

* * *

Mello was busy licking his newly open chocolate bar when he noticed movement on the small television that let the entire mafia crew see what was happening downstairs. Snyder was the only one who appeared fully focused on the events downstairs the whole time, the rest of the mafia being too busy with their games, their whores, or in the case of Mello, his chocolate.

"Mello, she's woken up!" said Snyder in what sounded like an unexplainably amused tone.

Mello saw Roy and Skyer hit the girl a couple of times. She was screaming. There was no sound, but it was obvious. Mello jumped from the sofa, breaking the huge piece of chocolate that melted while he was licking it and tossed it into his mouth. He wanted to hurry towards the hostage, but ended up coming back for another bar of chocolate. What he already had in his hands wasn't going to be enough. He sprinted back again to the doors, earning some well-hidden chuckles from the mafia boss.

"Don't fall down the stairs!" Rod Ross yelled after him as Mello was running to the cellar.

The young man didn't even look back.

When he reached the room in which Sayu was held prisoner, something unexpected happened. He heard her screaming as he was coming down the stairs, yes, but as soon as he entered the room, she stopped. Skyer hit her one more time, which was unnecessary and could reveal itself to be counter-productive, but she didn't start screaming back again. Roy hit Skyer on the back of the head, which was probably supposed to mean that he shouldn't have hit Sayu when she stopped screaming. When Mello turned towards the girl, he saw her eyes deeply buried in his own. She didn't even blink. His presence in this room seemed to have turned her into stone. She wasn't moving; she looked as if she wasn't even breathing. She was stunned and almost scary in her immobility. Mello started walking towards her. His last prisoner was stunned with fear when he first saw Mello too. Granted, this was not the first time that the girl saw him, but the last time - which was only some fifteen minutes ago - she was probably too drugged to realize. He liked the fact that he looked impressive and intimidating. He was able to make people fear him. Yet, this was the first time that somebody stared at him this way. When the others stared at him, they stared with fear, or begging for something. Nobody was ever as insistent as she was. Maybe she was still under the effect of drugs? Her eyes were deep and widened as he walked closer to her. He took a bite of his chocolate. The crack of it echoed through the silence.

At the exact moment as he grabbed her by her shirt in order to question her his way, she started breathing heavily. What was she playing at? He tried to ask her a question, but before even a sound escaped his lips, she started breathing deeper, louder. Hyperventilating. Mello didn't like this and he already waited for too long for her to give signs of cooperation. What was the point of this behavior? She could be afraid, but being afraid wouldn't make her breathe as if she was on the verge of an orgasm. Or rather on the verge of vanishing? Whatever it was, it was annoying. Was she toying with them? Trying to see for how long she could delay the interrogation. She was frustrating. Mello let go off her shirt and glanced at Roy and Skyer. Skyer interpreted it as a sign and slapped the girl, shouting at her to calm down. Sayu, on the contrary, added crying to hyperventilating. Roy came in, starting to shake her, threatening that they'll cut off her tongue if she doesn't cooperate. As a result, Sayu started screaming again.

Mello was getting sick of this entire situation. He pushed Roy away, deciding to shut her up himself, no matter what it takes, but as he grabbed her shirt again, telling her to be quiet, she screamed something else. She screamed the word "angel".

"ANGEL!..." she screamed again, and her eyes buried themselves into Mello's one more time. "An...gel..."

She was still shaking and sobbing. Mello looked as unfazed as ever, even though deep inside, he was slightly confused. He was still holding her by her shirt, his face close to hers.

"Angel..." this time, she smiled. "You came back. You will save me, right?"

Her voice was weak and cracked and she was smiling through the tears. Mello hoped that she didn't lose her mind in the process. Could she have snapped so quickly? Or was this another trick of hers? He moved closer, trying to examine her face more precisely, trying to notice whether she would show a tic, something that could explain why she was behaving the way she did.

"You smell of chocolate."

She looked away from his eyes for a moment. She noticed that he wore a rosary around his neck. She let her gaze run briefly through his face before setting on his eyes again.

"You _are_ an angel" she stated, as if she was certain of it. Her voice was still weak and barely above a whisper

"You won't hurt me, will you? You look like an angel..." she cracked another smile. "You'll stay with me, won't you?"

Mello released her and stepped back. Skyer and Roy exchanged glances. Now she looked more panicked. Mello moved away, as the remnants of her short smile turned into a suddenly terrified grimace. Mello turned his back to her and started walking towards the door.

"Bring her to my room!" he ordered.

Sayu did not hear that. Sayu didn't hear anything but the blood pulsating through her ears. She was terrified once again.

"Angel?" she tried to call back, but only saw him disappearing behind the door. The panic was seizing her more and more.

"ANGEL!" she screamed, tears running down her face "ANGEL! ANGEL!"

The door closed.

* * *

**A/N: Well... Here comes the end of another chapter ^^**

**Sayu's blood stream finally got rid of whatever it was that they injected into her veins and now she's able to think more clearly... Or is she? **

**When I publish the next chapter, I also intend to put a cover photo for this story :) I realize that my angry owl avatar doesn't really reflect the mood of the story xD**

**Also... REVIEWWWWWW! I love reading those and according to my traffic stats, this story was read by a bunch of people, but I don't know whether they liked it or they absolutely hated it and it's an extremely weird feeling x)) so don't be shy, I love you anyways no matter what you write in your sweet reviews x)**


	3. 3: Shackles

**A/N: I'm back! The months of May and June haven't been very kind to me and I was forced (that's how I see it) to abandon my stories until I get a more _human _schedule. So I'd really want to apologize for my hiatus... But hey! Now I'm back and I'm here to offer you a new chapter of this story, a much _longer_ chapter than the previous ones and I really hope that you like it :)**

**I would also like to thank Storm229 and GingerificFabulousTime for their kind reviews, it really means a lot and it gives motivation for further writing ^^**

**Well... Here comes the third chapter!**

* * *

_Chapter 3 : Shackles_

The two large men that Sayu now knew were called Roy and Skyer didn't untie her rope to bring her to Mello's room. They were carrying her altogether with the chair. Not knowing where they were taking her, Sayu found herself sobbing all the way up. And then she felt it. _Thirst_. Thirst stronger than any she ever felt before. Thirst that made the world in front of her eyes move as if it was taken by seizures, thirst that made that same, twisted world slowly disappear. The universe faded to black and all that remained was thirst.

"Wa...ter..." she moaned.

Did the two men even hear her? They just continued to walk. She felt that they were climbing the stairs, but she couldn't see anything. The thirst has made her other senses go numb. And it seemed that the stairs would never end.

"Water... Please..." her voice was barely a whisper now.

After what seemed an infinity later, the chair was put on a firm surface. Sayu could only think about one thing.

"Water..." she sobbed "Water..."

Something was brought to her lips. Out of that, a cold liquid was poured in her mouth. Progressively, the world came back to life in front of her eyes. The bottle was taken away from her. The first thing that she saw then was the face of her angel.

She started to cry.

* * *

His name was Mello. That was how they called him. They said "Mello, what do we do now?" Mello replied "Bring two pairs of handcuffs. The ones with the longest chain."

Then he turned towards Sayu and ordered her to stop crying.

She couldn't. She couldn't stop. So he stood up, took a knife that was standing on the desk in the room and came closer to her. She tried to stop crying then, but she failed again. He approached his armchair to the wooden chair on which she was sitting and made her face him. For a couple of moments, he was looking at her, thinking of what to do. He then proceeded to get on his knees and to cut the rope that was holding her legs attached. He did the same with the rope that was holding her hands. Sayu still didn't move from the chair. The tears in her eyes seemed to have frozen. Mello installed himself in front of her. He looked as if he was about to start talking, but then he stopped himself. Sayu didn't move. She was silently awaiting the angel's next move. He seemed to have been studying her. He then grabbed her right arm and pulled her towards him. She ended up on the angel's lap, his arms around her. She clutched to the fabric of his shirt, feeling that if she let go, something terrible would happen to her. But not while she was there. Not when she was guarded by the angel. Right now, she was perfectly safe.

* * *

This was all just part of the plan. Almost. Almost all. A new idea just popped in his head. The first thing that he wanted was beating Near. That was the main reason why he was doing this. The second thing that he wanted was the Death Note. The Death Note that Soichiro Yagami would bring him for sparing his daughter. The third thing that he wanted was unmasking the Kira. The fourth thing that he wanted was discovering who was hiding behind the name of L. Owning the Death Note, discovering Kira and the second L were all parts of his plan to beat Near. Finally, there was a fifth thing that Mello wanted. A fifth thing, which he discovered just recently. A new idea that popped in his head less than an hour ago.

_Angel..._

Why'd she say that? And why did it make him feel the way he did? There was something in that word, something else than the obvious. Sayu was hallucinating; she might have seen things... But when she pronounced the word, it woke something in Mello; there was a string that has been pulled. And right now, it was important to discover what it meant. A person doesn't feel the way he did when she called him an angel if there isn't a reason to it... And he had that feeling in his gut, the feeling that you have when you're close to discovering something important, when you're close to discovering a key element to... Something. He didn't know what it was yet. But he will be damned if he loses this string. Therefore, he must continue to play along. He will be the girl's angel, or at least, he will try his best. If she keeps seeing him that way, then maybe... Then maybe he will get the key which will help him understand. At the same time, he did feel a bit bad for the girl. And when he spoke to her father, he told him the truth: he wasn't interested in their lives. The only thing that he wanted was the Death Note.

And here he was now, holding a scared girl in his arms, listening to her sobbing into his chest. It felt strangely good to hold someone in his arms this way... He never did it before... This gave him the sense of some new form of power.

Skyer entered the room at that moment. If Mello had paid attention, he would have heard Skyer when he was still in the hall, for the rattling of the chains would have given him away. When Skyer entered, if he wasn't as distracted as he usually was, he would see Mello with Sayu in his arms.

"Here's what you asked Mello." Skyer said without even looking around him "Roy is downstairs so I'm bringing the... Oh!"

When he finally noticed Mello holding Sayu, Skyer's face lightened with a huge grin. Mello signaled him with his eyes to put the chains on the armrest of his armchair and to get away. Skyer did so hastily, still smiling. He was looking now at Mello, now at Sayu, clearly misinterpreting the situation. Mello let him misinterpret all he wanted. In the heads of the mafia members, whatever Skyer was thinking right now certainly made more sense than his actual plan of discovering why being called an angel did what it did to him.

"Have fun, boss!" Skyer winked as he left the room.

"Close the door." Mello ordered.

Skyer obeyed and Mello could hear him laughing as he closed the door. Skyer was so happy that it was irritating. Well... At least he brought Mello what he was asked to bring.

Mello looked at the being that was now breathing more steadily in his arms. He felt her hands on his shirt, her body pressed against his. She was his age, and she was not ugly to look at, even now... Still holding her with one arm, Mello grabbed his rosary with his other hand. Then he grabbed the chains.

* * *

Sayu felt something closing around her right hand with a metallic sound. She lowered her head and saw that she was handcuffed. She looked with distrust into the angel's... _Mello's_... Eyes. The expression on his face didn't show any emotions. Still not leaving her with his eyes, he closed the other shackle bracelet around his own hand. He showed the chain linking them to her.

"This is to make sure you don't try anything stupid." he said "Now, do you want to go to the bathroom? Or do you want to take a shower, maybe? No matter what you do, you're chained to me and I'll be close to you. You cannot escape." he tried to keep his tone low and to make himself as clear as possible.

Sayu was silent for a few moments, still sitting on his lap

"I know you're not an angel." she said quietly, looking at his eyes "Your name is Mello, right? I heard your men call you that way... Mello... Why am I here?"

What she said stirred Mello, pinched him, _bothered_ him. He stood up without even realizing that he did it and she was forced to do the same.

"You are not the one asking questions, Sayu Yagami." he said, struggling the urge to utter some menacing threat.

Sayu looked away.

"I'm sorry" she muttered.

She was starting to be afraid of him, but maybe not in the way that Mello hoped. Mello suddenly realized that he almost... _almost_ shouted at her. Great. He usually likes his hostages to be afraid of him, but this time, it wouldn't be going along with his plan. He needs to be careful now. His plan mustn't be disrupted. He sighed.

"It doesn't matter. Now sit down."

Mello really had to _try_ and sound as kind as possible. _All part of the plan... Only this time..._ But yet, he had to make it clear that he was the one giving orders and asking questions around here. When she sat down, he put his hand on the rail of the chair. He bent over so his head would be slightly above Sayu's.

"Now listen. I want you to answer all of my questions honestly. I will know it if you're lying." He paused. He should speak more gently. He mustn't destroy the remnants of the positive image that she had of him.

"Tell me everything, Sayu. You know that I won't hurt you, right? I'm not mean, you know. But this was all necessary." He was starting to get better. It was going fine. Her eyes were glistening again; he must have been doing something right. Good.

"I needed to do this so that Kira would be captured. Do you understand?" he continued "Isn't that your father's aim as well? Tell me, Sayu Yagami, what do you know about your father's work?"

"I... I don't know much" she started "Well... I know that he's working on the Kira case. With several other..."

"Do you know anything about the Death Note?" he interrupted.

Sayu looked confused.

"No, I've never heard of it." she answered.

Suddenly, Mello pushed the back of her chair and Sayu was balancing on only two of the chair's legs. Of course, even if Mello let the chair fall, Sayu wouldn't be hurt that much, but the aim of it was more psychological, having her feel that she must cooperate, for he was the one having power over her.

"I swear I don't know!" she said with a more panicked voice "My dad doesn't talk about his work! I barely see him anyways! He and my brother are always absent!"

Mello put her chair in its initial position again.

"Tell me about your brother." he said.

"Well... He's... He's... He's a genius." her voice became softer at the mention of her brother and Mello noticed her eyes beaming with tenderness "he's been a good brother to me. He..." she looked up to Mello's eyes

"Sayu... You have to cooperate. I swear to God that I won't hurt you, and that I have no interest in hurting your family." he said before he instinctively seized his rosary. "But you have to tell me everything."

He looked at his rosary. He was turning it in his hand, playing with it.

"Tell me, do you believe in God, Sayu Yagami?" he asked.

"Um... Well... Ye... Yes, I guess that I do." she replied.

"Good. So you would agree with me that only God has the right to decide who will live and who will die."

"Y... Yes."

"And Kira has no right to do the job that only God should do, right?"

"R... Right."

"Good. Now do you understand how important it is to catch him?"

"I do."

"So you will have to cooperate with us. After all, our aim is the same as your father's. Your aim is my aim. We all want to catch Kira and to reestablish the natural order of things. You will cooperate with us."

It was more a statement than a question.

"I will cooperate." she replied calmly "I will tell you everything."

He sat in front of her and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Up till recently," she started "my dad was always home on the weekends. He was also able to go on vacation..."

"Up till recently... Up till Kira happened?" he asked.

Sayu's father was working in the Japanese Task Force on the Kira case. Mello had his own suspicions when it came to the Task Force. They always seemed _a little bit too close _to arresting Kira, but never close _enough_. And it seemed to have been the case _all the time_. He was suspicious of them. What if they were actually working with Kira? What if Kira was one of them? That thought probably also crossed Near's head... Was Near suspecting the second L too? The real L, his mentor, his inspiration, had managed to locate Kira, to /figure out/ that there was a mysterious killer who could kill people only by knowing their face and their name, and had also managed to discover the way in which Kira proceeded to kill people. L was a genius. This second L was a genius too; there was no doubt at that. But he seemed less focused on actually capturing Kira and somehow more focused on establishing the image of an indestructible, almost God-like Kira, from what it seemed to Mello. If he was really trying to catch Kira, why was there no advancement in the case? And yet, in order to get to that position, he must have become really close to L. Close enough to... Actually learn his real name? Was it possible? Could Kira no other than the second L himself? And he might have something to do with L's death... L wouldn't have left them and died just like that. He was killed by Kira. That was the only possibility.

"Since he started working on the Kira case," Sayu continued, "he's never at home. He would come back late and immediately fall asleep. Once he didn't come for two months... Light..."

She stopped there for a bit. She felt as if something pinched at her heart and her eyes became watery. She dried them with the back of her right hand. Mello waited.

"Tell me a bit more about that Light," he said.

"Light is my older brother. The pride and honor of our family. He came first at the university entry exams. He's a genius, he's the brilliant son... I... I was always the... The "good enough" kid..." she marked a small pause "I shouldn't complain though, he helped me through so many times with my school work... But unlike him, I'm not able to enter one of the best universities in the city... I'm not... I'm not the brilliant one. But I don't care. He's my brother and I love him. My always brilliant brother..."

Mello was looking at her, trying to conceal the amazement. Her voice didn't hide any spite, any jealousy. She spoke as if she was perfectly all right to always be second in line, to always have someone above her. She accepted this situation a long time ago. She accepted to live in her brother's shadow. Was she complaining to him right now? Was she displeased by this situation? Was she just pretending that she didn't care? She was. She definitely was. If she didn't care, she wouldn't have felt the need to say it.

"You say you don't care?" he asked, and Sayu was surprised to see a smirk on his lips. It was the first time she saw him amused.

"So, you say you don't care... But let's be honest, Sayu Yagami... You never envied him? Not even a bit?"

Sayu seemed to be uncomfortable. At first she was avoiding his gaze, but when he put a hand on her chair - a gesture she misinterpreted, thinking that he would tilt her chair backwards again or shake it - she started talking again.

"It's not a good thing to be jealous of someone you love!" she almost shouted "Of course I'd want to see how it is to be the first... To be the best... To be the genius, to make my family proud, to be the smart one... But... But he's my brother! Whatever his achievements are, I feel as if it was me! Because I love him!"

She seems sincere, Mello thought. He didn't want to interrupt her now though, he had the feeling that she was at the point of telling him something important... Without even realizing how important it was. And he always trusted his gut in such situations. His gut never failed him.

"Besides," she said cocking her head on the side, "he used to spend way too much time up in his room. Now, he lives with his girlfriend... I remember, when he started working with the Task Force, he started coming back home late, like dad..."

Suddenly, Mello felt the puzzle in his head making a picture. It was her brother. Ninety percent of chances of Kira being her brother. A genius working with the Task Force. Working with L...

"He's the youngest member of Japanese police to ever work on such a case! Even before, when he was still in high school, he helped them solve some cases," she continued her musings.

She definitely dissipated all Mello's uncertainties and confirmed that her brother was the one when she finally said:

"When we were younger, he told me he wanted to be like L."

* * *

_She really loves her brother_, thought Mello while waiting in the bathroom. Sayu was in the shower, the curtains were hiding her, and he was inside, waiting for her to finish. _And he loves her too_, it came to him... Their last hostage didn't die by the hands of his men, but was murdered by Kira. Nobody but the Japanese police knew that he was held prisoner. It must have been someone from the inside. And right now, Sayu was still alive, healthy enough and taking a shower less than ten feet from where he was standing. Kira didn't want to murder his own little sister. It made perfect sense. Mello raised his eyes from looking at his feet and directed his gaze towards the shower curtain. He could not see Sayu, but he could notice her silhouette. He smiled, mentally congratulating himself for being kind enough for her not to feel uneasy taking a shower while he's around.

"Principles," he'd said, holding his rosary in his hand in front of her. "I have my beliefs and I won't hurt you."

How ridiculous. He did have his beliefs, that's true, but he wasn't the example of a man of this sort of beliefs, or quite a few people that he killed wouldn't be dead... Or at least, not by his hand... But he did believe in God, as much as he believed that there were some sins worse than the others. Laying a finger on a girl, hurting her, dirtying her always seemed disgusting to him. Even at the orphanage, when he'd often fight with other children, he never hit a girl. It seemed _low_ to him.

"I have to pee first" was her response, and he let her.

When she was about to take a shower, he insisted for entering in the bathroom as well. He'd let her enter in the bathtub and take her clothes off there, behind the curtain, if that makes her feel safer. Before she entered, he leaned on the wall and laid his eyes on an invisible bug on the floor. He mechanically took his phone from his pocket (it didn't seem like it was in a _pocket_, thought Sayu to herself, but she entered in the bathtub before he'd noticed that she was staring at his pants, afraid that he may read her mind and guess that she was wondering how it was possible to fit _anything_ in there) and called Roy.

"The girl will need some new clothes," he'd said.

And here he was now, waiting for her to finish her shower, waiting for somebody to bring her new clothes.

It was finally one of Rod Ross' prostitutes who came. Strawberry, they called her. All the prostitutes who visited mafia members had aliases instead of names. Granted, it was usually surnames reminding of fruit, sugar-stuffed foods and jewelry, or sometimes even animals (Mello found the animal aliases disturbing, they were always feline animals and he didn't exactly understand how one would find an actual lion or an actual cat sexy), but as he himself wasn't known by his actual name either, he found himself having great respect of them solely due to the fact that they had aliases. He never touched one though. There was something that seemed unsanitary about putting his tongue in a place where Rod Ross' or Snyder's, tongue had been. But he sometimes talked to them. He was always surprised when one of them displayed an enviable quantity of knowledge. Girls of their standing didn't really have the reputation of being particularly highly educated women, but there were always surprises. Besides, many had had a hard life and have learned the ways of the society. So talking to them was fun. And Strawberry has always been particularly nice with him, he thought. Especially on one occasion, when he was alone in his room and she came to visit him... She smelled nice, he remembers, she sat on the bed besides him, and talked to him. Then she started touching him, moving her hands along his body... When she wanted to untie his pants, he stopped her. He said that it was nice to talk to her and bid her goodnight. Strawberry was nice, but she was what she was and there was no changing that. Besides, he had some principles and even dying a virgin seemed a better option than to be touched by a prostitute.

"Is she all right?" asked Strawberry after posing some clean clothes on the bed.

Then immediately "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't ask, it's none of my business," while staring directly at Mello's eyes, making him uncomfortable lest he tells her.

"Why do you care?" he asked in a voice low enough that Sayu wouldn't hear it in her shower "You do care for her and you've seen her only for a few moments. Why?"

"She seems delicate... She isn't used to bad treatment. She was treated harshly by some of your men."

"I was treated harshly too, all my life," he replied.

"So was I," Strawberry said, and it led to a short, uncomfortable pause.

Mello wanted to tell her to go away and to mind her own business, but it was Strawberry, and she was one of the few people who ever treated him with tenderness. She was very soft, but not in an unnerving way. And when he made it clear that he wasn't interested in her in a sexual way, she stopped flirting with him. Her closeness was more of a _motherly_ type, if you could say so about a woman who slept with all of his fellow mafia men. But for someone like Mello, she was good enough.

"I brought her here in my room, she will sleep in a comfortable place, I allow her to have a shower, and right now I'll ask you to bring us some food. I don't intend to torture her." the tone of his voice was still low.

Strawberry smiled.

"You're not a bad man, Mello," she said before walking out.

Shortly after Strawberry walked out of the bathroom and out of the room, Mello noticed Sayu's arm going past the shower curtain, trying to grab the towel on the wall. Mello took it and shoved it behind the curtain. She replied with a weak "Thank you". Then she waited for longer than it would normally take to dry herself

"Strawberry was genius enough to pose your clothes on the bed instead of simply bringing them here, so stop waiting for me to hand them to you while you're in a bathtub" he said.

Sayu stepped out of the bathtub. Once clean and refreshed, her face looked much younger and prettier. She blushed upon catching his eye.

"It's alright, Sayu," he said with a sigh.

He turned around and pulled on the chains to make her follow, but stopped when he heard her chuckle.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You called me Sayu. Not Sayu Yagami. Just Sayu."

It seemed to make her happy, for some reason.

"Thank you for being kind to me," she said more quietly and Mello felt a strange tingling in his stomach.

* * *

"Time to sleep, Sayu," he said unlocking the handcuff bracelets.

"You... You're letting me free for the night?"

"Not exactly. Lay down on the bed."

Sayu suddenly blemished. Mello rolled his eyes.

"Sayu, do you think that I'm some kind of savage? If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done it by now. You were handcuffed and wearing only a towel when you walked out of the shower."

Mello tried to keep his tone low, but he suddenly felt offended by her innuendo and the insult burned so painfully that he couldn't keep calm. Soon, he would be up to an emotional outburst and talking much less kindly than he was supposed to, if he wanted for his plan to work.

"If I wanted to rape you, Sayu Yagami, I'd have done it earlier today, when you finished your shower. You'd be far less likely to fight, even if I could easily overpower you now as well, and you were practically naked. It'd have taken me much less time to tear down your towel than to tear down your clothes. And nobody would've cared about your screaming. Nobody would care even now, that I think of that!"

Too far. He went too far. And this was all uncalled for. She was silent now, silent and afraid. His overreactions will kill him one day, Mello thought. He took a deep breath and continued, in a calmer tone.

"You called for me when you were down in the cellar, so deep inside, you trusted me. I told your father that I'm not interested in taking your life, or his, for that matter. And in case you didn't notice, I've got some principles." he instinctively went for his rosary. "I promise that I won't hurt you. I got all the information that I wanted from you, I don't even need to scare you anymore."

"What information?" Sayu asked very weakly, before biting her lower lip and looking away, as if she said something she shouldn't have.

Mello pushed her shoulders gently, laying her down on the bed. She didn't say anything. He positioned her so she would occupy the left side of the bed. She moved along, without protesting, as a doll. He crouched beside the bed and looked at her profile. She was staring at the ceiling.

"Look at me," he said.

She turned her head slowly, slowly, _slowly_... As if in a dream. He didn't want to break the silence yet. He just wanted to look at her. _And for her to look at him_. She was pretty, he thought. Very different from any girl he's known. Not very hard when all the girls you've known were either tough mafia ladies or flashy prostitutes... When he was in the orphanage, he was still too young to care about girls. _No..._ Not too young. His age had nothing to do with it. It was the situation he was in that took care of his mind being only occupied with work and results. He never really got the time for being involved with another human being. Up till now, at least. He must have smiled without realizing it, because now, Sayu smiled back. She wouldn't have smiled first... Not like this... She was returning the smile he just noticed that he was wearing on his face.

"I trust you," she whispered.

Mello then felt an impulse he never felt before. He outstretched his hand, he wanted to reach for her, to touch her, to cup her face, to run his fingers through her hair, he felt the need to realize a sort of _contact_ with her, a contact very different from any other he's ever had. His other "contacts" were mostly violent, either inflicting pain, alone or with his mafia buddies, or occasionally even being on the receiving end of the pain, pain he gladly gave back even when he was overpowered. But now, it wasn't pain he wanted. What he wanted was _tenderness_. But how would a person who's only known pain and pain alone be able to give tenderness? He hugged her once, earlier that day. He remembered that. But then, it was merely to calm her down. Now, he really _wanted_ it, with all his being. But he restrained. He pulled back his hand before he managed to touch Sayu and stood up. He moved to the footboard side and grabbed the shackles.

"I'm going to chain your feet to the bed to make sure you don't run away" he stated calmly.

"I wouldn't..." she started, but he stopped her.

"I don't know that," he said "I've been in a hostage position once and every single moment of my capture, I was thinking about how to leave. Even when it seemed much riskier than to stay where I was, because if the guards had caught me trying to escape, things would've gotten worse. You may have an insanity rush of that type during the night. You may even try to suffocate me with a pillow, but I can counter that. If you tried to escape, though, it's on one of the other men that you'd risk to meet, and that would be ugly."

"I wouldn't try to escape" was her simple, quiet response.

"I won't risk it," he chuckled before proceeding to change into his simple black pajamas.

What followed was a bizarre scene, one would think. To have a captor and a hostage sharing one same bed, turned towards each other, but not touching, trying to understand what was happening to them. The situation wasn't romantic, or at least wasn't supposed to be. Looking into each other's eyes before falling asleep would be beyond awkward, but turning their back to each other seemed somehow improper in the given situation. So they would try and turn their eyes away, or close them, pretending to sleep. And then, hoping that the other one was already asleep, they would slightly open their eyes and try to have a glimpse of the sleeping face of the one facing them. A strange situation as it is itself, even stranger was the feeling of comfort and peacefulness emanating from it. Mello's presence to Sayu, just as Sayu's presence to Mello had the calming air of a lullaby and they both drifted to their slumber.

* * *

**A/N: I really love to write scenes in which characters are falling asleep... I like that state between dreams and wakefulness, where we are only strong enough to be completely honest and a bit crazy... I actually dedicated one entire fanfic to such a state, it's called "Sleep Sound", and since it's also a Death Note fanfic (featuring L and Light), some of you may be interested ^^**

**As for the cover for the story, I intended to upload a cover picture specific for this story, which I wanted to be a fanart by me, of sorts. But as I told you, I was horribly busy, so not only I didn't have enough time for writing, but my drawing was also suffering from my schedule... I thought about waiting till I make a decent cover to post this chapter, but that would've been just dragging it, and I think that you have waited quite some time already for this update, I couldn't have let you waiting even more!**

**So my dear readers, I'm sending you loads of love and I'm gonna wish you a sweet sweet night (it's half past three in the morning where I live... But I couldn't wait till tomorrow!)...**

**Of course, reviews are much appreciated and will only help me get better and offering you more of what you like ^^ so don't hesitate!**


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